Display devices using a liquid crystal panel as a display part displaying images have been known. The liquid crystal panel does not emit light and such display devices include a lighting device (a backlight device) for lighting the liquid crystal panel from a rear surface side thereof.
Recently, such display devices including a circular liquid crystal panel have been known as is described in Patent Document 1.
Conventional display devices generally include a rectangular liquid crystal panel. In a conventional liquid crystal panel, a driving circuit such as a gate driver is arranged in a frame-shaped non-display area outside a display area. The gate drivers can be arranged dispersedly in pixels within the display area and the non-display area can be very thin with the recent technology. Accordingly, the shape of the liquid crystal panel can be varied freely and circular liquid crystal panels as described above may be used.
As described in Patent Document 1, the circular liquid crystal panel is configured to display images with using light exiting the circular lighting device. The circular lighting device include a circular light guide plate, LEDs that are arranged at intervals along periphery of (surrounding) the light guide plate, and a casing where the light guide plate and the LEDs are arranged. Each of the LEDs is mounted on a board having a predetermined trace pattern thereon and arranged in the casing.
The circular lighting device includes the LEDs that are arranged opposite a peripheral edge surface of the light guide plate. The peripheral edge surface that is opposite each LED is a light entrance portion where light from the LEDs enters. The light entering the light guide plate exits the light guide plate through a front-side plate surface facing the liquid crystal panel.